Rabbi Alexander Ziskind ben Moshe, the Maharaz, was born in Rozhana, Lithuania. He studied under Rabbi Aryeh Leib HaLevi Epstein, author of the Pardes, and was a study partner of Rabbi Moshe Ivier. A kabbalist and master of piety, he spent most of his life in Grodno, devoting himself entirely to study and prayer.

Out of humility, so as not to be distracted from learning and to avoid strife, he refused any rabbinic or communal post, earning his living through a small trade. In his will he urged his children: "Accept no appointment; be neither leaders nor heads of the community." Very active in charity, he would even borrow from the wealthy to help the poor. He deeply loved the Land of Israel and, though he never went there, raised funds for its inhabitants; on a journey to Hamburg for this purpose he was imprisoned for a year and a half for transferring money abroad, and resumed his collecting as soon as he was freed.

His work Yesod VeShoresh HaAvodah (Novydvor, 1782) is a guide to prayer and to performing the mitzvot with fervour and intention according to the Arizal's Kabbalah, stressing self-sacrifice for the sanctification of God's Name. It was widely read in all circles, Chassidic and Lithuanian alike. His ethical will, filled with intense love of God, appeared in Grodno in 1794.

He passed away in Grodno on 18 Adar II 5554 (1794).